Method of reinforcing perforated sheets



July 1, 1952 V B, z N 2,601,853

' v METHOD OF REINFORCING PERFORATED SHEETS Filed NOV. 2, 1948 IN V EN TOR .BEN/AM/N fiflfiszsmv Patented July 1, 1952 METHOD OF REINFORCING PERFORATED SHEETS Beniamin Hirszson, New York, N. Y., assignor. of. one-half to Joseph Anthony Paparelli, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Application November 2, 1948, Serial No. 57,993

4 Claims.

Theinventionrelates toramethodof and means for reinforcing perforated sheets and. is more particularly concerned with a novellyi formed reinforcing patch adapted to be arranged on a sheet for reinforcing a perforation therein.

Sheets of paper-frequently-have' holes punched alcng one edge, adapting the sheets to be mounted andhou'nd in loose l'eaf ringibinders. Owing to the close proximity ofthe holes. to one edge of the sheet, it frequently happens that the sheet is inadvertently torn out of the binder Unintentional tearing has been minimizedby'providmg each hole with a' reinforcement in" the form of a patch or ringof a; kind shown anddescribed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 51,786, filed September 29, 1948, now abandoned. The reinforcing element disclosed therein is fabricated from two thicknesses of' adhesive-coated tape, securely joined together adhesively.

Reinforcement of sheets having perforations adjacent an edge thereof by the application of a reinforcing patch or' ring of doulol'e material thickness requires the use-of an excessiveamount of material. It has been found that strain, resulting in tearing out the holes, is applied to but a small segment'of the inside perimeter of the reinforcing patch; consequently, no useful purpose is served by providing a patch of double material thickness throughout its entire area.

Sheets of paper having their perforations reinupofthe thickness of the stack edgeiszobjectionable only because the free: portions of the-sheets extending outwardly from the ring; binder lie at an incline,- which, in som'eicases, is so pronounced as to materially interfere: with the practical use of the sheet area adjacent. the binder. rings. It istherefore an object! of the present invention to provide a reinforcing: patch or ring. of a kind that will minimizethei objectionable tendency of the sheets to build up excessive thickness in the area ofthezbinderrings.

Another" object of the invention is to provide a reinforcing patch of a kind having added reinfo'rcement only in the area of greatest stress.

Another object of the: invention is to provide a double strength reinforcing patch from a minimum amount of stock.

Another object of the invention is to provide areinforcing patch of the character referred to with an eccentric. hole therein.

Another: object is to provide a transparent flexible patch having reinforcement inacritical area thereof.

Another object is to providea ring likeradhesive-coated patch having. added reinforcement in an area contiguous witha segment of the perimeter of its inside diameter.

Other and further: objects of. the present invention will be apparent from the. following description and claims, and are illustratedin the accompanying drawing: which; byway of. illustration, shows an exemplary emloodimentfandithe principles thereon Other embodiments of. the invention emhodyingthe' same principles maybe used, and structural changes may be made as desired by those: skilled in the art, without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig; 1 is a view showing a fragment of a sheet having reinforcing rings embodying the present invention attached to. one face thereof adjacent to one of its edges.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a fragment of a sheet having a reinforcing patch thereon, showing a binder ring associated therewith.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional detail view taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a view showing the steps taken in the method of forming and attaching a reinforcing patch.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary endelevational view of a ring binder showing a stack of'reinforced sheets mounted therein.

Fig. 6 is a view of a modified form of reinforcing patch, as viewed from its adhesivecoated surface.

Referring to the drawing, in detail, Figs; 1, 2 and 3 illustrate the location of reinforcing pieces or patches, embodyingthe present invention, with relation to the edge H' of a sheet of paper or the like l2. The sheet is provided in the present disclosure with two perforations l3 closely adjacent to the edge H, each adapted to receive. a ring, of a loose-leaf hinder when the sheet is bound. Owing tothe close proximity of'th'e: holes l3 to the edge H, a non-reinforcedlsheet'is" likely to be easily torn out of the binder; consequently, novel reinforcing patches of thekind' generally indicated at I4 are applied" to at" least one face of said sheet' in" the area of and surrounding each hole I3.

In the present:disclosure,.the' reinforcing pieces or patches l4 are severed from pressure-sensitive adhesive-coated cellophane sheets or strips, or like transparent tapes of a. kind. commonly known as Scotch tape. Although other types of adhesive-coated tape may be used, cellophane material is highly suited for the present purpose owing to its transparency and flexibility. It has been found, however, that reinforcing pieces or patches consisting of a single thickness of such tape do not afford the desired reinforcement for the holes l3. As noted hereinabove, reinforcing pieces or patches consisting of two material thicknesses are objectionable from the standpoint of material required and subsequent excessive building up of the bound edges of a stack of such reinforced sheets.

The reinforcing pieces or patches [4 preferably are formed circular in outline, although it should be understood that they may be rectangular, square, or of any other configuration. Each reinforcing piece I4 is provided with a hole l5, formed in a manner to be described hereinafter, which hole preferably is eccentric to the perimeter of the patch so as to provide a relatively wide area IE to be arranged in the area of the sheet between the perforation l3 and the edge II. This disposition of the wide patch area It affords maximum reinforcement to the perforation obtainable from a single material thickness.

Mere reinforcement, even by a wide area of the patch obtained by the use of but a single material thickness, is not entirely satisfactory. Accordingly, means is provided to further reinforce the area l6. Such additional reinforcement is provided in the form of a crescentshaped piece of adhesive-coated material H, which has its inner edge l8 coincident with the perimeter of the hole l5. Upon referring to Fig. 2, it should be readily apparent that the sheet II is adequately reinforced in the area of greatest tearing stress by two thicknesses of material, and that remaining portion of the patch surrounding the hole is of single material thickness. Accordingly, any stress applied to the double reinforced segment of the hole perimeter I by the binder ring I9 is resisted.

Double reinforcement in the critical area only of the sheet also afiords means whereby the sheets lie substantially fiat when bound in a stack. Reference is accordingly directed to the Fig. 5 disclosure, where it is apparent that the build-up of a stack of sheets resulting from the presence of two material thicknesses of reinforcing material in a predetermined and limited area thereof'occurs only in the sheet area located inside of the binder ring I9. Each sheet of the stack slopes downwardly at an accelerated angle because there is but a single thickness of reinforcing material in the areas adjacent the outside of the ring binder I9. Accordingly, the sheets in the stack lie substantially fiat.

The reinforcing patches I4 preferably are fabricated from a strip of adhesive-coated material in such manner that the additional reinforcing piece is aflixed thereto during the fabrication thereof and from portions of said strip which otherwise would constitute waste material. A preferred method of fabrication is best illustrated in Fig. 4. As there shown, the strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive-coated material 2| is initially die-cut to provide a semicircular slit 22. The tab 23 defined by the semi-circular slit 22 then is folded downwardly, out of the plane of the strip, and over against the adhesive-coated bottom face of said strip, as at 23a.

The next step in fabrication of the patch con sists of die-cutting or otherwise severing the circular patch [4 from the strip, as generally indicated at 24 in Fig. 4. The severed patch then is aifixed, with its adhesive-coated surface disposed downwardly, to the sheet H. A punch is then operated to perforate the hole [3 in the patch I4 and sheet II. It should be observed that the hole I3 is eccentric of the perimeter of the patch in a direction away from the tab 23 and that it is of such diameter as to remove a greater portion of said folded-over tab. The removed portion of the tab 23 includes the area at the fold thereof, so as to leave affixed, between the patch l4 and the sheet I l, the crescentshaped reinforcement ll.

Although a specific method of fabrication and the selected steps taken in such fabrication have been recited in detail, it should be understood that the final operations of severing the patch from the strip and the punching of the hole l3 may be accomplished in a sequence other than that recited. It has, however, been found that the sequence of steps herein recited is best suited to the purposes of the present invention and may be accomplished readily by the employment of a severing, attaching and perforating tool of the kind shown in my aforesaid co-pending application, Serial No. 51,786.

The patch 25 illustrated in Fig. 6 is somewhat like the patch previously described. In this disclosure, the patch is provided with an eccentric hole l3, suitably reinforced over a part of its perimeter by a strip 26 adhesively secured to the pressure-sensitive adhesive-coated surface of the patch material. The strip 26 may be fabricated from waste material remaining after the patches 2 5 have been removed from the supply tape; or the strips may be severed from a separate supply tape, either adhesive coated or uncoated, having a width corresponding substantially to the width of the strip 26. The strip 26 is, of course, afiixed to the patch 25 prior to punching the hole I3 so as to provide an edge coincident with a segment of the hole perimeter.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in the accompanying drawing and described in detail in the accompanying specification, it should be understood that the invention is capable of embodying a variety of modifications without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of preforming and reinforcing a hole in a sheet which consists of cutting a tab in a strip of adhesive-coated material, folding said tab over against the adhesive-coated face of said strip, severing a patch from the section of the strip having the folded tab therein, adhesively securing the severed patch to a sheet and finally punching a hole in the sheet and patch so as to remove a substantial portion of the tab.

2. The method of preforming and reinforcing a hole in a sheet which consists of cutting a tab in a strip of adhesive-coated material, folding said tab over against the adhesive-coated face of said strip, severing a patch from the section of the strip having the folded tab therein, adhesively securing the severed patch to a sheet and finally punching a hole in the sheet and patch so as to remove a substantial portion of the tab, including the fold connection with the patch.

3. The method of preforming and reinforcing a hole in a sheet which consists of cutting a tab in a strip of adhesive-coated material, folding said tab over against the adhesive-coated face of said strip, severing a patch from the section of the strip having the folded tab therein, pressing 5 the adhesive-coated face of the patch against a sheet to secure it thereto, and finally punching a hole in the sheet and patch so as to remove a substantial portion of the tab.

4. The method of fabricating a reinforcing patch which consists of cutting a tab in a strip having a pressure-sensitive adhesive on one face, folding the tab over against the adhesive-coated face of said strip, severing a patch from the section of the strip having the folded tab therein and 10 finally punching a hole in said patch so as to remove a substantial portion of the tab.

BENIAMIN HIRSZSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

